Last week, Yandex declared that is partnering with Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, and Samsung to become the default search engine on the latest Windows Phones in Russia. Yandex happens to be one of the largest search engines and advertising companies in that country.

A month ago, Yandex also declared it would also become the search provider for "bada-powered" smartphones available in Russia and also in CIS.

According to previous reports, the last few months have been very good for this company. There is a steady growth in the shares of Yandex. In fact, as of the third quarter of this year, the company owns 62.7 percent of the entire market - definitely ahead of Google.

In addition to becoming the default search engine for Windows Phones and a search provider for "badapowered" smartphones, the company recently bought SPB Software, a mobile software developer operating in Russia, Thailand, and Taiwan. This deal closed at around $38 million, as reported by Tech Crunch.

SPB Software was set up in 1999 and develops apps, software, and games for Windows phone devices as well as Android.